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The Case for Christian Humanism: Anism The Case for Christian Humanism: Why Christians should believe in humanism, and humanists in Christianity “The choice before us is not whether our public Humanism has come to perceived as non- or even Ritchie and Nick Humanism: Angus Christian Spencer for Case The orthodoxy will be Christian or humanist, but whether anti-religious. But it wasn’t always like that. Indeed, it will be the kind of humanism that is capable of until recently, humanism was a much broader and The Case for Christian Humanism: resisting its several formidable enemies, whether more generous term, with Christian humanism being nihilism, consumerism, or violently apocalyptic one kind among many others, such as classical, religion. This clear and succinct essay makes a scientific and secular humanism. Why Christians should believe in persuasive case that Christianity can tell a better, In this essay, Angus Ritchie and Nick Spencer argue more coherent, and more cogent humanist story that Christians ought to be more aware – and more than atheism.” proud – of their humanist credentials, rather than humanism, and humanists in Christianity Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral allowing humanism to become a cipher for atheism. Theology, University of Oxford Were it not for Christianity, they argue, the core ideas Angus Ritchie and Nick Spencer of humanism would simply not have developed in “An illuminating discussion of humanism in its Europe. Foreword by Rowan Williams relation to religion, making an impassioned, informed They go beyond a mere celebration of Christian and vitally important case for Christian humanism” humanism, however, to argue that the Christian faith Keith Ward, Professorial Research Fellow, Heythrop provides a much firmer foundation for humanist College, London beliefs than evolutionary atheism. Taking their cue from the authoritative definition of humanism by the International Humanist and Ethical Union, they argue “Must humanism mean a rejection of God? Most that a commitment to reliable rationality, to moral people who identify as humanists would claim it realism and to human dignity can only be secured on does and must do. Against that, many Christians a theistic basis. Ultimately, atheism saws through the would claim that only faith in God gives us reason branch on which humanism sits. to suppose that humanity is worth believing in and treasuring. This paper sets out the arguments fairly Just as the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, so and will therefore infuriate both sides. It might even the price of humanism is philosophical rigour. The make some people think.” Case for Christian Humanism provides that rigour, thereby attempting, in T.S. Eliot’s words, “to point out Andrew Brown the weak points in its defences, before some genuine enemy took advantage of them.” Canon Dr Angus Ritchie is Executive Director of the Centre for Theology and Community and a Research Associate in the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University Nick Spencer is Research Director of Theos, the religion and society think tank, and author of Atheists: the Origin of the Species (Bloomsbury, 2014) “This clear and succinct essay makes a persuasive case that Christianity can tell a better, more coherent, and more cogent humanist story than atheism.” Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, University of Oxford £5 ISBN: 978-0-9574743-6-9 Theos Friends’ Programme Theos is a religion and society think tank which seeks to inform and influence public opinion about the role of faith and belief in society. We were launched in November 2006 with the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams and the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor. We provide • high-quality research, reports and publications; • an events programme; • news, information and analysis to media companies, parliamentarians and other opinion formers. We can only do this with your help! Theos Friends receive complimentary copies of all Theos publications, invitations to selected events and monthly email bulletins. Theos Associates receive all the benefits of Friends and in addition are invited to attend an exclusive annual dinner with the Theos Director and team. If you would like to become a Friend or an Associate, please visit www.theosthinktank.co.uk or detach or photocopy the form below, and send it with a cheque to Theos for the relevant amount. Thank you. Yes, I would like to help change public opinion! I enclose a cheque payable to Theos for: £60 (Friend) £300 (Associate) Please send me information on how to give by standing order/direct debit Name Address Postcode Email Tel Data Protection Theos will use your personal data to inform you of its activities. If you prefer not to receive this information please tick here. By completing you are consenting to receiving communications by telephone and email. Theos will not pass on your details to any third party. Please return this form to: Theos | 77 Great Peter Street | London | SW1P 2EZ S: 97711 D: 36701 Theos – clear thinking on religion and society Theos is a Christian think tank working in the area of religion, politics and society. We aim to inform debate around questions of faith and secularism and the related subjects of values and identity. We were launched in November 2006, and our first report ‘Doing God’: a Future for Faith in the Public Square, written by Nick Spencer, examined the reasons why faith will play an increasingly significant role in public life. what Theos stands for In our post-secular age, interest in spirituality is increasing across western culture. We believe that it is impossible to understand the modern world without an understanding of religion. We also believe that much of the debate about the role and place of religion has been unnecessarily emotive and ill-informed. We reject the notion of any possible ‘neutral’ perspective on these issues. what Theos works on Theos conducts research, publishes reports and runs debates, seminars and lectures on the intersection of religion, politics and society in the contemporary world. We also provide regular comment for print and broadcast media. Research areas include religion in relation to public services, the constitution, law, the economy, pluralism and education. what Theos provides In addition to our independently driven work, Theos provides research, analysis and advice to individuals and organisations across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Our unique position within the think tank sector means that we have the capacity to develop proposals that carry values – with an eye to demonstrating what really works. what Theos believes Theos was launched with the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, but it is independent of any particular denomination. We are an ecumenical Christian organisation, committed to the belief that religion in general and Christianity in particular has much to offer for the common good of society as a whole. We are committed to the traditional creeds of the Christian faith and draw on social and political thought from a wide range of theological traditions. We also work with many non-Christian and non-religious individuals and organisations. The Case for Christian Humanism: Why Christians should believe in humanism, and humanists in Christianity Angus Ritchie and Nick Spencer Foreword by Rowan Williams Acknowledgement We are grateful to the New Insights & Directions for Religious Epistemology research project (newinsights.ox.ac.uk) at Oxford University for funding this report, and public debates on its content, as part of its dissemination and engagement work. The New Insights project has been made possible through a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation. We are also grateful to Hymns Ancient and Modern for their grant towards the production of this report and subsequent events discussing its arguments. Published by Theos in 2014 © Theos ISBN 978-0-9574743-6-9 Some rights reserved – see copyright licence for details For further information and subscription details please contact: Theos Licence Department 77 Great Peter Street London SW1P 2EZ T 020 7828 7777 E [email protected] www.theosthinktank.co.uk contents foreword 6 introduction 9 chapter 1 – being generous with humanism 14 chapter 2 – why reason? 31 chapter 3 – why dignity? 44 chapter 4 – why morality? 61 5 foreword Christians believe that what they speak of and try to live by is a truth that brings ‘abundance’ to human life: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10.10). That is the charter for speaking of a Christian ‘humanism’, a tradition that goes right back to the days of earliest Christianity, where we find the second century writer Irenaeus of Lyons saying that “the glory of God is a human being fully alive”, and is echoed by some of the great Christian minds of the twentieth century such as the Roman Catholic Jacques Maritain and the Anglican Michael Ramsey. Archbishop Ramsey wrote, in a book review of the late 1960s, that Europe knew a long tradition of avowedly Christian humanism drawn from the confluence of the stream of biblical theism from Palestine and the stream of classical humanism from ancient Greece’.1 In the same essay he invited Christians to rediscover that tradition, confident that “no truth is to be feared since all truth is of God.”2 The idea that human flourishing had to entail the decline of religion needed – and still needs – demythologising. But that will only happen if we can inject some clarity into what is often a sterile debate between Christians and secular humanists. There are those on the one side who argue fiercely that concessions to a ‘humanist’ mindset weaken the radical challenge of the gospel to all human arrogance and self- sufficiency. Surely faith begins when human confidence bows before the alien majesty of God and recognises that all its achievement is valueless without the summons and gift of grace? And on the other side of the argument are those who would like to see religion classified as a clinical mental disorder and who cannot see any role at all for belief in an adult and rational universe.
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